What's life like in a South African prison?

By Laura Smith-Spark, CNN

updated 5:44 AM EST, Mon March 3, 2014

Oscar Pistorius reaches out to his uncle Arnold Pistorius and other family members as he is led out of court in Pretoria, South Africa, after being sentenced to five years in prison on Tuesday, October 21. Pistorius, the first double-amputee runner to compete in the Olympics, was sentenced for culpable homicide in the February 2013 death of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.

Pistorius leaves the high court in Pretoria on Monday, October 13. A judge cleared Pistorius of premeditated murder last month, but he was found guilty of culpable homicide -- the South African term for unintentionally, but unlawfully, killing a person.

Pistorius speaks with his uncle Arnold Pistorius during his trial at the Pretoria High Court on Friday, September 12.

Pistorius cries on the stand in Pretoria on Thursday, September 11, as the judge reads notes while delivering her verdict.

Pistorius arrives at court on September 11.

Pistorius speaks to someone in court as his murder trial resumes in Pretoria on Thursday, August 7.

Pistorius sits in court in Pretoria on Tuesday, July 8.

Pistorius arrives at court in Pretoria on Monday, July 7.

Pistorius yawns during day 37 of his murder trial on June 3.

Pistorius hugs a supporter Wednesday, July 2.

Pistorius listens to evidence being presented in court on Monday, June 30.

Pistorius leaves the court in Pretoria on Tuesday, May 20.

Pistorius reads notes during his trial on Monday, May 12.

Ballistics expert Tom "Wollie" Wolmarans testifies for the defense on May 12.

A red laser dot points at bullet holes in the bathroom door for a forensic demonstration during the trial on May 12. Pistorius admits firing four bullets through the closed door, killing Steenkamp, but says he thought he was protecting himself from a burglar.

Pistorius returns to court as his murder trial resumes Monday, May 5, after a break of more than two weeks.

Pistorius gets a hug from a woman as he leaves court in Pretoria on Wednesday, April 16.

Pistorius rubs his eye Tuesday, April 15, after testifying during his murder trial.

Pistorius arrives at the court in Pretoria on Monday, April 14.

Pistorius' sister, Aimee, cries in court as she listens to her brother's testimony on Tuesday, April 8.

June Steenkamp, Reeva Steenkamp's mother, reacts as she listens to Pistorius' testimony on April 8.

Pistorius is hugged by his aunt Lois Pistorius in court on Monday, April 7.

Pistorius sits inside the courtroom as members of his defense team talk in the foreground Friday, March 28.

Pistorius leaves court on March 28. The trial was delayed until April 7 because one of the legal experts who will assist the judge in reaching a verdict was sick.

Steenkamp's mother, right, and family friend Jenny Strydom react in court Tuesday, March 25, during cross-questioning.

Cell phone analyst Francois Moller testifies during the trial on March 25. Questioned by the prosecution, Moller listed in order the calls made and received by Pistorius after he shot Steenkamp.

Pistorius cries as he sits in the dock during his trial on Monday, March 24.

Pistorius talks to defense attorney Barry Roux on March 24.

Pistorius holds his head while members of his family talk behind him on Tuesday, March 18.

Steenkamp's mother, wearing the white collared shirt, looks on while a police officer takes notes in court March 18.

Pistorius is hugged by his aunt Lois on March 18.

Pistorius takes notes Monday, March 17, as his murder trial enters its third week.

Pistorius covers his head as he listens to forensic evidence Thursday, March 13.

Forensic investigator Johannes Vermeulen, left, is questioned during the trial March 13.

Pistorius listens to questions during his trial on Wednesday, March 12.

A police officer takes part in a court reconstruction March 12. A police forensic expert said Pistorius was on the stumps of his amputated legs when he knocked down a locked toilet door with a cricket bat to reach his shot girlfriend. That counters the track star's assertion he was wearing his prosthetic legs at the time. Defense attorney Barry Roux countered by suggesting that even with his prosthetic legs on, Pistorius would not be swinging a bat at the same height as an able-bodied person.

Pistorius listens to cross-questioning on Monday, March 10.

Friends of Steenkamp's family watch Pistorius during his trial on March 7.

Pistorius covers his ears on Thursday, March 6, as a witness speaks about the morning Steenkamp was killed.

Pistorius' sister, Aimee, right, speaks with members of Steenkamp's family on March 6.

Pistorius sits in court on the third day of his trial Wednesday, March 5.

Pistorius appears on the second day of his trial Tuesday, March 4.

Members of the media work during a break in proceedings March 4.

Pistorius talks with Roux inside the court on March 4.

Pistorius speaks with his legal representatives on March 4.

Pistorius is escorted out of the court Monday, March 3, after the first day of his murder trial.

People try to get a glimpse of Pistorius as he leaves the court building on March 3.

Pistorius is seen shortly after arriving for his trial on March 3.

Pistorius walks into the courtroom on March 3.

Pistorius takes a drink of water March 3 during his trial.

The case has captivated South Africa. Here, Lauren Wentzel watches the proceedings from her home outside Cape Town on March 3.

June Steenkamp arrives at the court building for the start of the trial.

The overcrowding means three men may share a single cell, or communal cells for 40 people are jammed with double the number they were intended to hold, with men sleeping in double or triple bunks, she said.

"We heard of one person who for the first year in remand detention slept on the floor and then 'graduated' to a bunk," she said. Remand is the term used for pretrial custody.

Many inmates are kept locked up for 23 hours a day, with only an hour outside their cell. Some prisons go into lockdown as early as 3 or 4 p.m., leaving prisoners cooped up for 12 hours or more at a stretch.

"It's not a pretty picture," Erfani-Ghadimi said.

Overcrowding is a particular problem in remand prisons, where it runs at just over 200%, she said, citing figures from the Department of Correctional Services. Overall, overcrowding in prisons stands at about 133%.

Special treatment?

The track star's high-profile case has put South Africa's criminal justice system under the spotlight.

Observers asked why Pistorius, a gold medal-winning Paralympian, was detained in a holding cell at the Brooklyn Police Station after Steenkamp's death last February -- and not at Central Prison or Newlock, where other defendants awaiting trial are kept.

Oscar Pistorius appears in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Monday, March 3. South Africa's double amputee track star is accused of the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on February 14, 2013.

Pistorius won gold for the first time at the 2004 Athens Paralympics. He won the 200-meter final and set a new world record. The South African sprinter has been called the "Blade Runner" because of his carbon-fiber prosthetic legs.

Prosthetic legs stand on the ground as Pistorius coaches children in Manchester, England, in April 2006.

Pistorius poses with his medals from the IPC Athletics World Championships in January 2011. He won three world titles there but lost the 100-meter T44 final to Singleton. It was his first loss in a race over 100 meters since the 2004 Paralympic Games.

Pistorius passes the baton to Ofentse Mogawane in a 4x400-meter relay race during the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Daegu, South Korea, in September 2011. Pistorius was the first double amputee athlete to compete at the World Athletics Championships.

Pistorius races in the men's 400 meters during the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Pistorius competes in the London Olympics.

Pistorius carries the South African flag during the opening ceremony of the 2012 Paralympics in London.

Pistorius competes in a men's 400-meter T44 heat at the 2012 Paralympic Games.

Pistorius poses on the podium with his gold medal after winning the men's 400-meter T44 final at the 2012 Paralympic Games.

Pistorius receives his honorary doctorate from Strathclyde University in Glasgow, Scotland, in November 2012.

A picture taken on January 26, 2013, shows Pistorius and Steenkamp at Melrose Arch in Johannesburg.

Pistorius leaves the Boshkop police station with his face covered on February 14, 2013.

Pistorius, swamped by the press, leaves a Pretoria courtroom in June.

Photos: 'Blade Runner' Oscar Pistorius

'Blade Runner' Oscar Pistorius

'Blade Runner' Oscar Pistorius

'Blade Runner' Oscar Pistorius

'Blade Runner' Oscar Pistorius

'Blade Runner' Oscar Pistorius

'Blade Runner' Oscar Pistorius

'Blade Runner' Oscar Pistorius

'Blade Runner' Oscar Pistorius

'Blade Runner' Oscar Pistorius

'Blade Runner' Oscar Pistorius

'Blade Runner' Oscar Pistorius

'Blade Runner' Oscar Pistorius

'Blade Runner' Oscar Pistorius

'Blade Runner' Oscar Pistorius

'Blade Runner' Oscar Pistorius

Photos: 'Blade Runner' Oscar Pistorius

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Photos: 'Blade Runner' Oscar Pistorius

South African model Reeva Steenkamp died in February 2013 after she was shot at the home of her boyfriend, Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius. She was 29. Pistorius has been convicted of culpable homicide.

Before she started dating Pistorius, Steenkamp was famous in her own right. She was a law school graduate with a vibrant personality and a slew of modeling gigs under her belt.

A 21-year-old Steenkamp poses on a beach in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, where she grew up. Steenkamp's friend Kerry Smith photographed the aspiring model when she was a law student.

Steenkamp poses for another photo taken by Smith. Steenkamp was born in Cape Town, but she moved to Johannesburg to pursue modeling.

Pistorius admitted to shooting Steenkamp, but he says it was an accident. Prosecutors argue he intentionally killed her after an argument.

Steenkamp appeared as a contestant on a South African reality show, "Tropika Island of Treasure." Her pre-recorded episode aired two days after her death.

Steenkamp served as a presenter for FashionTV in South Africa. She was also an FHM cover girl and the face of cosmetics company Avon.

Steenkamp "was the kindest, sweetest human being; an angel on Earth," said Capacity Relations, the agency that represented her.

"If there is some special circumstance that permits this, authorities must share this with the public as they are setting a bad precedent," the women's branch of South Africa's ruling party said in a prepared statement. "All should be treated equally before the law no matter your standing in society."

Pistorius got special treatment, the African National Congress Women's League said, adding that his family was able to see him outside visiting hours -- unlike relatives of other inmates.

The 27-year-old has rejected the murder allegation "in the strongest terms," his agent said in a statement.

Pistorius' lawyers requested Brooklyn so that they could have access to their client over the weekend, following his arrest on Valentine's Day in 2013. The state did not object.

The case of Shrien Dewani, a British man accused of hiring hitmen to kill his wife on their South African honeymoon, also cast the country's criminal justice system in an unflattering light. His lawyers argued in 2012 that his extradition would breach his human rights under European law because he risked being attacked by other inmates in South African prisons.

While British High Court judges dismissed that part of Dewani's argument -- and last month ruled that he can be extradited to South Africa to stand trial -- concerns about potential torture and abuse in detention are warranted, Erfani-Ghadimi said.

South Africa is a signatory to the U.N. Convention on Torture, but it has yet to ratify it, so such abuses have not been criminalized.

"A legacy of apartheid is that prison cells are still unfortunately a place where prisoners can be abused," Erfani-Ghadimi said.

Amnesty International's Annual Report 2012, which looked at human rights around the world, also said that a draft law to make torture a criminal offense had not been presented in South Africa's parliament by the end of the year.

Human dignity

Nevertheless, said Erfani-Ghadimi, the problem doesn't lie in South Africa's laws so much as in the ability of the justice system to cope with the number of inmates in the system.

South Africa's constitution and its bill of rights, with regard to prisoners' rights, are among the best in the world, she said. "Unfortunately, that doesn't necessarily translate into practice."

She says she thinks conditions are improving, however, thanks in part to the strength of those constitutional rights and the work of civil society organizations campaigning for change.

And Pistorius, if he is eventually convicted and jailed, should find that his particular medical needs as a double amputee are taken into account, she said.

This could mean that he is sent to a prison with better medical facilities or wheelchair access, she suggested.

According to the bill of rights, prisoners are entitled to "be detained in conditions that are consistent with human dignity, including at least exercise and the provision, at state expense, of adequate accommodation, nutrition, medical treatment."

Correctional Services Department spokesman Koos Gerber said South Africa's detention facilities, whether for remand prisoners or those serving prison terms, "can accommodate people with any disabilities."

"We have a general problem of overcrowding but we have learned to live with it," said Gerber, adding that extra bunks have been added to make sure all remand prisoners have a bed. Hospital facilities are also available at all times, he said.

According to official figures for 2011 to 2012, there were 158,790 prison inmates in South Africa, a nation of nearly 52 million, of whom about 30% were on remand awaiting trial.

This compares with about 2.2 million people in prisons or jails in the United States at the end of 2011, according to U.S. Department of Justice figures. Crowding in U.S. prisons stood at 39% over capacity in 2011, according to a Government Accountability Office report.

Long wait for trial

Erfani-Ghadimi blames systemic problems for South Africa's overcrowding. One issue is that police are quick to arrest people, she said, and they have only 48 hours from arrest to bring charges.

After they are charged, many suspects cannot afford to make bail or hire a lawyer and so are forced to spend months or even years behind bars awaiting trial, she said.

Investigations are often poorly run and courtrooms can be overcrowded, adding to the hurdles faced by those on remand, she said.

"Because the system is cumbersome and slow, there's a lot of people stuck waiting -- and that means the conditions are not by any means ideal," she added.

A "statement of agreed factual findings" filed in a Constitutional Court ruling in December, in favor of a man who contracted tuberculosis while imprisoned, gives insight into what could lie ahead for Pistorius.

The statement describes the conditions Dudley Lee endured in Cape Town's Pollsmoor Maximum Security Prison -- where Nelson Mandela was once held -- before he was eventually acquitted and freed.

Prisoners going to court appearances were "stuffed into vans like sardines," it said. Holding cells at court were also "jam-packed." Meanwhile, conditions back at the prison were far from pleasant -- though ideal for the spread of disease.

Packed, smoky cells

The air inside the communal cells, locked down without cross-ventilation for up to 15 hours a day, was thick with cigarette smoke, the statement said. Even after Lee was diagnosed with TB, he was kept in a cell with other prisoners. He "begged, bullied and bribed" to get the medication he needed.

As a world-famous athlete, Pistorius has money to pay for good defense attorneys, unlike many in the South African justice system. He stated his annual income was 5.6 million rand ($631,000) at his bail hearing in February of last year.

A Pretoria magistrate granted Pistorius bail and he walked free on bond eight days after the shooting death of his girlfriend. But if convicted of premeditated murder, he would face 25 years in prison before being eligible for parole.